Registration Open for 2011 NASA Lunabotics Mining Competition

NASA is challenging U.S. and international undergraduate and graduate student teams to design and build a remote-controlled or autonomous excavator that could be used on the moon. The excavator must be able to collect and deposit a minimum of 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of lunar simulant in 15 minutes.

Design teams must include one faculty advisor from a college or university and two or more undergraduate or graduate students. A group of universities may work in collaboration, and multidisciplinary teams are encouraged.

Selected teams will compete in the Lunabotics Mining Competition at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 23-28, 2011.

Teams must apply no later than Feb. 28, 2011. There will be a limited number of teams allowed to compete.

A webcast will be held on Sept. 22, 2010, at 3 p.m. EDT covering details about applying for the competition, the required milestones to compete on-site, and the requirements of the competition. There will be a review of the lessons learned from this past year’s competitors. This webcast is an opportunity for teams, new and old, to discover what ideas worked and what did not. This is your chance to ask your questions and get answers. You may submit questions during the webcast to lunabotics@gmail.com.

In advance of the webcast

— Please visit http://dln.nasa.gov/ and click on the DLiNfo Channel button on the left-hand side.
— Pop-ups must be enabled in your Web browser.
— Please complete the brief usage form.
— A plug-in may be necessary to download, depending on your computer/browser.

For more information about the competition and to apply online, visit http://www.nasa.gov/lunabotics.

Please e-mail any questions about this opportunity to Susan Sawyer at Susan.G.Sawyer@nasa.gov.